Re-Assessing Practice: Visual Art, Visually Impaired People and the Web.

Howell, Caro; Porter, Dan

The latest development to come out of ongoing research at Tate Modern, London's new museum of modern art, is i-Map art resources for blind and partially sighted people that are delivered online. Currently i-Map explores the work of Matisse and Picasso, their innovations, influences and personal motivations, as well as key concepts in modern art. Aimed at partially sighted and blind people with a general interest in art as well as art teachers and their visually impaired pupils, i-Map incorporates text, image enhancement and deconstruction, animation and raised images. Importantly, i-Map transformed a gallery-based practice that involved intensive 1:1 delivery, into an entirely new way of deconstructing art online and one where the user has the necessary tools to work independently. i-Map goes beyond straight description, attempting to simulate purely visual experiences and the usual focus on "what?" in favor of exploring the "why?" of art so that visually impaired users can make their own critical judgments. The process of reassessing the parameters and definitions of art education for visually impaired people revealed the Web to be an ideal vehicle for increasing intellectual access and delivering effective interpretation in a format that offers autonomy of exploration. However, in order for a project such as i-Map to confidently defy received Web design wisdom and develop tailor made solutions, its content needs to be the product of successful methodology and focused research. It is possible to provide blind and partially sighed people with intellectual access to any artwork and the Web offers enormous potential to do assist in this process. In attempting to achieve this, i-Map can provide useful practical and pedagogical pointers. (Author/AEF)